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Don’t Wait For Your Feelings: Motivation

“I feel ready. Now I can act.” The order of those phrases sounds logical. First you feel ready and then you act on that feeling. No obvious controversy there. Yet some of the common phrases we toss around in everyday conversation are not only inaccurate, but they also negatively affect our abilities to accomplish what we desire. This is often used in terms of assessing our motivation to do something difficult. In this example, waiting to feel motivated (or ready) will most often prevent you from accomplishing something that you never knew was possible. In fact reversing the order of those original ideas is often more accurate and advantageous. I decide to act and then I notice my feelings changing.

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Counterintuitive Networking

Most often when people hear the word “networking” they think of a means for ultimately getting a job or getting clients. In the current legal industry, networking is an essential part of marketing your legal services, gaining connections for future job opportunities, and strengthening your brand. It is rare these days to hear of someone who got a job by simply sending in a resume cold, without having any connection to anyone involved in the process. Unfortunately for many, networking is also one of those activities that elicits much anxiety and increases a sense of vulnerability. One reason why networking is uncomfortable for so many is the fact that often times the power to achieve the goal of networking is in someone else’s control. For example, if my goal is to get a job, then by definition I am relying on someone else to provide that job opportunity. And before you say, “Thank you, Captain Obvious for that insight” allow me to suggest an alternative.

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Balanced Gratitude: Practice Reviewing Consolations & Desolations

Much has been written about the importance of gratitude for your mental well-being. Focusing on what you are grateful for is an excellent way to avoid negative cyclic thinking and to put struggles into a wider perspective. In addition to identifying areas of gratitude, it is also helpful to recognize areas of struggle. Not to dwell on them, but to acknowledge them, understand them, and process them so that they do not linger in the background as the wallpaper of your life.

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Which is More Important – the Therapy or the Therapist?

When we see lawyers/law students (or their family members) at LCL who we think would benefit from ongoing therapy (you can call it counseling if you prefer), we make an effort to match them with clinicians with whom we have some experience or have at least acquired relevant information.  That’s one of the reasons why coming to LCL for a referral is usually better than simply selecting one from a list.  My own approach, if I’ve gotten to know the therapist even a little, is to visualize him or her with the client in front of me, and get a sense of how that might go.  The fact is that, while some therapists are more helpful than others, none is a good match for everyone.

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Try fast – Fail fast – Evaluate fast – Try again fast

The fear of failure is often at the heart of perfectionism. The idea of failure has such a powerful effect on so many of us. We hear messages from multiple sources about the importance of success, the perils of failure, and how failure can taint any accomplishment that one has worked hard to achieve. The more someone fears failure, the more likely they are to avoid trying something that they find challenging. This limits learning and the possibility of achieving something great. Obviously, without risk there can be no reward. So logically we know that we must risk failure to achieve success. I’ll take it further than that: We need failure (yes, failure) in order to achieve success.

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entity selection

Entity Selection for Law Practice Startups

Entity selection is one of your first, foundational decisions as a law practice startup, and you want to get it right. Entity selection is always one of the first considerations in starting a law practice, and it's worth your time…

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